Sheena and Pigeon Spies, Highest Graded Sheena #2 at Auction

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Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: Dan Zolnerowich, fiction house

Sheena and Pigeon Spies, Highest Graded Sheena #2 at Auction

Sheena, Queen of the Jungle #2 includes leopard cults and vampire vultures, but it's pigeon spies that threaten to undo British intelligence.

Published Fri, 25 Sep 2026 03:26:09 -0500
by Mark Seifert
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Article Summary

  • Sheena, Queen of the Jungle #2 pits Sheena against Nazi pigeon spies in the wartime jungle thriller "Swastika Plague."
  • Bob Webb crafts a sharp mix of jungle adventure and WWII intrigue, from captured agents to secret enemy outposts.
  • Leopard cults, vampire vultures, and ivory hunters make Sheena #2 a vivid early Fiction House showcase.
  • A highest-graded CGC 9.2 Rockford pedigree copy underscores the rarity and enduring appeal of early Sheena comics.

A carrier pigeon bearing stolen intelligence reports presents Sheena with a very specific wartime problem in Sheena, Queen of the Jungle #2. Rescuing a captured British agent won't be enough if the information taken from him reaches German headquarters, and in the saga penciled by Bob Webb, Sheena has a surprisingly practical solution. It's a striking meeting of jungle-adventure action and a communications method that was being discussed in the wartime press months before this Winter 1942 issue appeared. Among this issue's leopard cults, vampire vultures, and ivory hunters, the pigeon spies in the story "Swastika Plague" represent the clearest war-era threat.

Sheena, Queen of the Jungle #2 (Fiction House, 1942). Cover detail by Dan Zolnerowich.

Sheena Intercepts the Enemy's Message

Of course, messenger pigeons have been used for military and other purposes for centuries. In more recent history, they were extensively used during the Franco-Prussian War, which led to more organized use by a number of militaries by the turn of the century, and to widespread use during World War I and World War II. News reports of their use during WWII were not infrequent. The R.A.F. had their "Pigeon Spies". Nazi spy organizations reportedly used them. In the story "Swastika Plague," a British intelligence agent has been captured in the jungle, and documents in his possession could expose his network. The Nazi operative at a secret outpost there uses carrier pigeons to communicate with his superiors and manages to release one before Sheena and her companion Bob can stop him. Sheena's solution to that situation is straightforward: a thrown dagger takes care of the matter.

The CGC census has 20 Universal certifications, with one at 9.2 and none higher than the Rockford pedigree copy on offer here. For an early Sheena issue with a mix of jungle and wartime adventure, more work by Bob Webb and a standout Dan Zolnerowich cover in a Rockford pedigree copy, there's a Sheena, Queen of the Jungle #2 (Fiction House, 1942) CGC NM- 9.2 with cream-to-off-white pages up for auction at the 2026 September 24-26 Comic Books Signature Auction #7469.

Sheena, Queen of the Jungle #2 (Fiction House, 1942). Cover by Dan Zolnerowich.
Sheena, Queen of the Jungle #2 (Fiction House, 1942), back cover. Rangers Comics advertisement.

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